Holograms and Popcorn
by T'Laina
Summary: Sulu, Chekov, Scotty and Bones band together and decide to play a little practical joke on Jim. Spock, however, has other ideas.


"Hikaru!" Pavel hissed.

"Just 5 more seconds! I'm almost done!"

"Come on lad, he'll be here really soon!" Scotty encouraged.

Pavel took the device away from Hikaru's hands and made the adjustments himself. Hikaru huffed and crossed his arms.

"I could have done it myself you know!"

Pavel opened his mouth to rant at Hikaru.

"No! There's not time for this boys! Let's get outta here." Scotty interrupted.

The three scurried out of the captain's quarters to be met by Bones at the door.

"Damn it, you were cutting it fine guys." He grumbled.

"The only reason you're here is for the medical override code, Dr McCoy." Hikaru replied still annoyed by Pavel's interference.

"That may be, but I'd never pass up an opportunity to see this." Bones said with a little smirk sliding onto his face. Pavel smiled and started laughing slightly.

"This is going to be so funny!" he said gleefully.

"Let's get down to engineering." Scotty said as he started to walk to the nearest turbo lift. "I have the live feed set up there."

* * *

The four men all sat around a small table sharing a bucket of popcorn. Scotty had some scotch but was refraining from drinking it for the most part. There was an air of anticipation.

"Jimbo really doesn't know what he's in for." Bones said dryly. He was slightly uncomfortable being in engineering. It smelled awful and was quite a bit warmer than the rest of the ship, especially his precious sickbay.

"There he is!" Hikaru exclaimed. They all stared intently at the live vision of Jim's quarters. Jim immediately went to his bedroom- out of sight to the camera.

"Now." Scotty ordered. Pavel activated the device they had planted. They watched as a holographic Spock appeared in the room. After a few minutes, Jim walked out of his bedroom shirtless and was scared out of his wits.

"Spock," they heard Jim say. "How... Why are you in here?"

"Actiwating the speech sub routine." Pavel muttered.

The holographic Spock took a few steps towards Jim.

"There is something of great importance we must speak of Jim." It stated in a very Spock-like fashion as Jim pulled a random shirt on.

Jim scratched his hair and took a seat at his desk leaning back slightly into the chair. He clasped his hands together.

"Shoot."

"I intend to state my wish to become your mate."

Bones nearly spat out the popcorn he had been eating. He shot a look of surprise to Scotty, Pavel and Hikaru who were all grinning broadly.

"Are you boys serious!? Good God! I was not expecting you to program it to say that!" He exclaimed.

"Shh!" Hikaru said still smiling.

Jim looked to have gone extremely pale. He stood up and started pacing the room.

"Well, Spock. This is kinda unexpected."

"I am aware that it may seem sudden Jim. But after our time working together and becoming friends, I have come to admire you a great deal." The hologram said perfectly replicating Spock's cadence and inflections.

Bones and Scotty couldn't help themselves any longer and started to openly laugh. The situation was ridiculous. Jim was still gaping at "Spock", not being able to think of anything to say.

Pavel and Hikaru started to look serious. They tapped away at the computer furiously.

"Scotty, the power supply to the hologram is cutting off!" Pavel exclaimed.

"No! No no no!" Scotty jumped up and gave orders to the computer but the power supply would not increase.

Bones increased his pace of eating popcorn. This was only getting more and more exciting. He was a doctor, not an engineer. All he could do was watch and enjoy the show.

"The program is destabilising." Hikaru said nervously.

All the men could now do was watch as "Spock" started to fade in and out of existence. They watched the expression on Jim's face go from confusion to panic to sheer anger as the hologram finally disappeared. They saw Jim pick up the holographic device that was left and place it on his desk.

"Excuse me Gentlemen."

Pavel nearly fell out of his chair in fright. The other three froze still with looks of absolute guilt on their faces.

Scotty slowly turned around to face an unperturbed Spock. He stood on behalf of his friends.

"How did you know what we were doing sir? Was it you who interrupted the power supply?" He asked nervously.

Spock was highly displeased about his crew's illogical use of their time. It had not been difficult to see the tracks they had left behind pertaining to their actions. Spock nodded his head to answer Scotty's question.

"Lieutenant Commander Scott, this violates a great many ship regulations including improperly using a medical override, entering quarters without permission, invading the privacy of a crewmember with a recording device, creating a replica of-"

Spock stopped short as he caught the sight of an infuriated Jim coming into engineering. It didn't surprise Spock that Jim knew exactly who it had been.

"Scotty!" Jim yelled.

"I suggest you four remove yourself from the captain's presence. I will attempt to calm him down." Spock said quietly yet sternly. The four men scurried off with Bones dashing back to the table to grab the popcorn.

Spock saw them hide themselves just as Jim turned the corner laying eyes on Spock.

"Commander," Jim started seriously "Where is Mr. Scott?"

Spock was Vulcan. He could not lie.

"He has made the intelligent decision to remove himself from your presence at this time along with Dr. McCoy, Mr. Chekov and Mr. Sulu." Spock stated with a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh," Jim bristled. "You think this is funny do you? The amount of violations they've committed- I would be in my right mind to demote all of them!"

Jim angrily came closer to Spock. Spock didn't know if he should dare saying anything.

"This behaviour is not unexpected Captain. We have been at warp without stop for a few days. They have become restless."

"It does _not_ justify this though."

Jim clenched his fists together and strode away from Spock. From a few metres away, Spock could hear the snickers of the men. Scotty became particularly loud as he started to give a hearty laugh.

Apparently, Jim had heard this. He had turned on his heels and ran towards where the laughing was coming from.

"You better run for your lives you insubordinate lunatics!" Jim yelled as he sprinted.

The four sprung up from their hiding spot in surprise and bolted out of engineering across the narrow staircases and under the connector beams with Jim right on their tails. Spock saw Jim crash tackle Bones, the slowest of the group, to the ground. Popcorn flew everywhere and the other three continued to run.

Spock simply stood where he had been the entire time. He watched the events unfold with the tiniest of smirks on his face, feeling quite amused.

He would have to get used to this erratic and illogical behaviour over the next few years if he was to keep his sanity.

Or, he thought, perhaps Jim and himself could participate in what was known as "payback."

But that was most illogical.


End file.
